All of One Peace: Essays on Nonviolence (Paperback)

by Colman McCarthy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
A collection of essays by a syndicated Washington Post columnist whose radically nonviolent ethos regularly breaks ranks with the establishment liberal crowd. In 1982 McCarthy founded the Center for Teaching Peace, an organization that supports courses on nonviolence, and some of his best columns here recall those classrooms: How college students know ``more about the Bataan death march than Gandhi's salt march'' and how peace education might counteract our society's violent impulses. He critiques the pre-Gulf War flights of rhetoric as ``a textbook example of how not to manage conflict'' and tartly suggests that CNN should more accurately label its programming ``Slaughter in the Gulf.'' If his opposition to the death penalty is predictable, he ups the ante, challenging vengeance-seekers to draw and quarter murderers. He tries to balance the rights of women seeking abortion with the rights of unborn children--which he views as living beings; he supports both those offering alternatives to abortion as well as to overburdened new mothers. McCarthy criticizes Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall for supporting abortion rights and also offers several forceful columns on animal rights, including a spirited account of a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Columns on so-called ``troublesome women,'' such as Montana congresswoman Jeannette Rankin and singer/activist Joan Baez, as well as his defenses of bicycle riding are also good, but his warmhearted columns on baseball, however welcome in a daily newspaper, seem out of place in this package. The brevity of the columns leaves some issues undeveloped, and McCarthy avoids some hard questions--no discussion of the Holocaust here--but he's still an admirable and unusual voice in American journalism. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press; Later Printing edition (July 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813520975
• ISBN-13: 978-0813520971
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #371,254 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colman McCarthy Should be Mandatory Reading, July 26, 2001

By	Jeff Hale "jeffmsh" (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

Everyone claims they want a more peaceful world, but they do not take steps to create a such a world. Colman McCarthy believes that peace can be taught, and the transformation that took place witin myself when I read his book is evidence that he is correct.

Colman McCarthy is eloquent, witty, and committed to the pacifist position. The collection of essays is enjoyable to read and will expose the reader to new perspectives. Anyone who wants to decrease the suffering in the world should read All of One Peace.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Many Good Thoughts, February 12, 2001

By A Customer

I had Coleman McCarthy as a professor while an undergrad at the Catholic University of America. This book is a good focus of the lessons he taught in class about non-violence and the need to find peaceful resolutions to conflict. While a I might not agree with some of his words, one is unable to deny that the content sparks thoughts on issues regarding the death penalty, abortion, animal rights, the use of weapons and war. This a great book for teachers who are trying to find more contemporary ways to teach about non-violence.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great essay to reflect upon, spark conversation, February 9, 2000

By A Customer

I've read a number of the essays in this book, and I have found many of them to be thought provoking and insightful as well as easy to read. I read them while I was devoting a year of my life to volunteer work, and to be able to associate the themes of the book to what I was doing was a wonderful experience.